Ozone Fury 2M

I got my first kite, the Ozone Fury 2m, last May followed up by a Scrub Furnace Creek mountain board (£150 off a German eBay store) in September and then a 2006 Radsail Pro II 5m in January (£132 off an eBay shop). I’ve also had the privilege of playing with a Scrub Lion Canyon MB, a 3.6m HQ Beamer, a 4m Blade, a 4.9m Blade (with handles and with bar) and a 6.6m HQ Crossfire. I’ll cover most of these, discussing the pros and cons as I see them. For your reference, I’m about 12stones (75kg or 165pounds) and like bucket loads of adrenaline.

Mountain Boards

The Lion Canyon is very small. Size 10 feet rub on the wheels as you are trying to turn, which can lead to quite a lot of face plants, as well as a nice streak of rubber on your shoes. It gets quite a bit of speed wobble, although tightening up the trucks can reduce that.

The Furnace Creek is great for both down hilling and kiting. It has bigger wheels which are more forgiving over rough ground and allow more speed as well, if pumped up nice and hard. The suspension is good – not just a gimmick. I’ve only used it on its stiffest setting, as I’m not good enough yet to loosen it up. Loosening it up allows for tighter turns, but makes it harder to control, plus you’ll get speed wobble at lower speeds. Speed wobble is when you get to a certain speed, the board will start shaking uncontrollably and you inevitably end up chewing grass. The only real downside of this board is that it’s quite heavy, which gives it strength, but makes jumping, 180s, and carrying it uphill hard work.

If money wasn’t a problem, what would I ride? Comp 16 Pro.

Kites

The 2m Fury is a great kite. It flies in very little wind. In moderate winds it can tug me along on the board or scud me (especially at night when the grass is damp) and in strong winds I can do little swing jumps with it – swooping it one way across the centre of the window whilst I jump the other, like a pendulum. In a fair wind in Norway, I even managed to go kite blading in the snow (snow blades are essentially very short skis) – so much easier than boarding on land. It’s perfect for introducing mates to kiting, as it can provide some power and excitement, but is not likely to be dangerous.

The 3.6m HQ Beamer provides marginally more power than the 2m Fury, but it doesn’t go up as easily (heavier material), it luffs a bit more and it’s not great at the edge of the window.

The 4m Blade was pleasant – a good bit of boarding was done in a fairly tame wind. It was easy to get up, although noticeably slower through the air than the smaller kites. Handles very well at the edge of the window.

The 4.9m blade was insane, particularly in terms of lift. I had a nice long play using the handles, although didn’t dare try it with the board as my control of it was limited, and I was only just learning to board and kite at the same time. Did quite a few jumps and loved it. Then switched to a bar, which was the first time I had ever used a bar. It scared me, as I couldn’t brake the kite (and I use brake turns a lot) and so couldn’t manoeuvre the kite very quickly. Hence, I couldn’t just dabble with the power zone – if it was going through it, it was going all the way through it. After a short spell on it, my confidence began to build and so I tried a small swoop through the power zone. I was unceremoniously plucked up about 12 – 15 feet (high enough to struggle to focus on the grass in the fading light) and then dropped again. The landing was rough enough to jolt, but not so hard that I fell over.

My 5m Radsail. This is my new toy which I’ve saved long and hard for, but I’ll try to remain impartial. The red caps you get for the handles to wind the strings up are brilliant – unpacking the kite simply couldn’t get any quicker. The zip on the bag problem – it is terrible if I zip it one way, but fine if I go the other – I guess that’s why some people find problems with it and others don’t.

It has some of the same drawbacks as the Beamer, in that it luffs a bit more than I’d like it too, especially near the edge, and that it’s a heavy material which makes it hard to get up in light winds. It has more power than the beamer, but not as much as I’d have expected from a kite this size, but then the only other 5m I’ve flown is a Blade. Generally, it does look good and flies well and is good value for money. In a smooth 6mph wind the other day (according to the Racekites weather site), I got going really well on the board with both this and the Beamer. I could even get the beamer to drag me uphill, which I couldn’t with this kite, but I think that that was largely down to me being more experienced with the Beamer and being able to keep it closer to the zone. I’ve had to shorten the brake lines on the Radsail, as they were so long that I could hardly brake it at all. The lift on this kite isn’t great – it’s not for jumping with.

The 6.6m Crossfire. Awesome. Loads of power, nice to control. Quite a bit of lift. Didn’t dare board with it, but it would be good.

If money weren’t a problem: Ozone Riot 7m (although I’ve never flown one, and I don’t think I’m good enough yet to handle it properly anyway).

Conclusions

The more expensive kites tend to be made out of lighter materials which make them easier to fly in lower winds.

The 2m Fury is brilliant for small people and beginners, but is quickly outgrown.

The 4m Blade is roughly equal in power to a 5m Radsail.

The 4.9m Blade had less power but more lift than the 6.6m Crossfire.

The Lion Canyon is a small board – not suitable for most male adults.

The Furnace Creek is very good for kiting and down hilling, but not for jumping.

Author : bobbarnes00